She Said We Can Still Be Friends

Julian froze his body still for that moment.
As Cory pulled away she looked up to see Julian standing there. His green eyes caught on hers.
Julian took a can of soda and Daniela’s hand; marching to the living room.
It was Kenneth’s nineteenth birthday party.
No parents.
No rules.
No shit.
Just purified fun and music.
Julian swung Daniela in front of him and shoved her in the crowd.
“Go dance D.”
She was confused. Before she could get out a girl grabbed her and she was sandwiched.
Julian went to the backyard drinking the Pepsi wishing he liked beer.

Steven stood in the kitchen with Maria, Erik, and Greg.
Maria did a shot with Greg, taking the lime out of his mouth and sucking the salt from his hand.
“Don’t get hot Greg, calm down.” Erik shouted while laughing at him.
Steven was watching Tina.
Her moves slicker than a fox’s.
Maria licked her hand and poured salt on it. She than placed the lime wedge in her mouth and passed the shot of Hennessey and Tequila mixed.
He looked at it, unsure of it until Tina looked at him.
Steven licked her hand, sucked the lime from her mouth pressing his lips against hers, and drank.
She spit the lime out and raised her arms.
“Yeah!” She screamed out and they yelled with her.
A guy as tall as Steven walked in.
Denim shorts draped his legs while an orange polo covered his torso. He had a matching pair of Vans to complete his outfit.
“Steven, where’s Julian?”
“Somewhere in this party man. Happy birthday though.”
They gave each other a ‘manly hug’ and took another shot.
“Who’s this?”
“Maria, straight from Italy, with her friend that is staying with Julian.”
“Yeah, yeah I heard that.”
Kenneth went to hug Cory than Tina.
From the hug he knew.
When Kenneth came back Steven stopped him, pulling him to the side.
“Are you getting that?”
“Who Tina? Yeah man hope you’re okay considering ya broke up.”
“I’m okay with it because we are still together but I pass her to you.”
Kenneth was left standing there till a girl pulled him away.
Steven went up to Tina, drawing his body closer to hers.
“Think about it this way, you no longer have to cheat.”
He walked away from her and went back to Maria.
She insisted they dance.
Daniela was finally able to get off the dance floor and made her way to the backyard.
On the way out she saw a cooler with soda and pulled two out.
“Here.”
She passed it to him.
“Don’t do that again.”
“Sorry.”
“Still hurts?”
“A bit, I mostly just want to kill her.”
“You fit in Italy than. The men are guppies, than you hurt them and they are stranglers.”
Julian laughed causing her to laugh.
“When school starts, you can meet new girls.”
“True, same goes for you, when you start school you can pick a new guy to make into a guppy.”
Daniela stood up, watching the trees swayed.
“I like your hair style, looks like two pom-poms.”
She turned around smiling at him.
“Come, let’s enjoy the party.”
He stood up and she followed him inside.

The dancing teens took up a lot of space.
Some were making out on the sofas and others were drinking still in the kitchen.
Greg and Erik had two girls each dancing with them.
Steven had shocked them the most.
They ignored it and decided to dance as soon as a Daft Punk song came on.
Robot Rock played as everyone pretended to have guitars.

When they finished dancing they checked on Steven again.
He was making out with Maria while swaying to the music.
Before Julian gained the opportunity to stop them, Tina did.
Her hands curling on his shoulders as she pulled him away.
“What’s your problem? You have a man already so go.”
He tried to turn around but he was stopped once more.
“Steven you are my boyfriend, remember?”
“Let’s add a key work okay? I was your boyfriend. Underline it, capitalize it and everything. I was your boyfriend.”
Steven took Maria’s hand and pulled her towards their friends.
“I’m ready to go, this party is getting lame.”
Daniela nodded standing up from the sofa.
Julian took the keys from Steven’s pocket and they headed out the door.

It had been three weeks since the party. Neither Tina nor Cory bothering Steven and Julian.
The twins had been home since then still admiring the work in the living room.
“Jess, Tom, Steven come downstairs.” Marjorie called her kids downstairs for lunch.
“You are taking to many days off mom, you have to stop.”
“Oh shush.”
They sat at the new dining room table the twins bought for her.
“We are still mad you didn’t fix up our rooms.”
“Get over it, you weren’t home yet and it was just mom and me.”
“How did you pay for all of this any way?”
Marjorie and Steven looked at each other. Not sure if they were willing to tell their secret to them.
“Your father paid for all of this.”
Jess and Tom looked at each other, knowing there was a lie some where in there.
Tom sighed and Jess spoke. “Be honest please, once dad had us he catered to us and I’m sorry for that when it came to you Steven he just-
“That’s enough Jess.”
“Why? Mom this is a conversation we have to have some day.”
Steven stood staring at his plate, wondering what will go on it. His mother passed him a slice of quesadilla and a slice of mango. She placed the big plate in the middle while she looked across at Jess and Tom.
She placed her hand over Stevens.
“Oh man you have to stop babying him already. He’s eighteen when are you going to let him grow up?”
“Jess that enough, stop i-
“She doesn’t baby me, you wouldn’t know shit because you are never here Jess, who the hell you think fixed up this damn house?”
“Steven…sit down.”
Jess looked at him surprised her baby brother yelled at her.
Tom cleared his throat and spoke. “Mom…let us tell him, what’s going to happen a year later when he finds out?”
Marjorie started to cry. Steven shook his head and bit a piece of the quesadilla.
“Aero…when dad saw you the day you were born he just I guess…lost some fire in him. He had a savings account for us, this house used to be nice but when it came to you, you don’t have anything not even on his will. You have no-
Aero, Steven hadn’t been called Aero since he was seven and all he could do was jump from everything pretending he could fly.
“Steven dad didn’t put money for a college saving, he stopped caring. That’s why we don’t come around, mom, because he stopped caring and so did we.”
Steven nodded his head. His skull growing claws that was ripping along his spine. He wanted to break everything around him.
“Well…than I’m glad I stole his wallet and is making him pay for everything. Including my college.”
“You what?” Both Tom and Jess said as one.
“When your father came home one night with another woman, I threatened him took his wallet and told him to pay for it.”
“Did you ever think he would stop?”
“He can’t stop…he doesn’t provide anymore mom has receipts of the things he pays for and it shows he pays for little for someone who makes too much.”
Steven got up kissing his mother on the head and left them.
“Jess…I love you baby but sometimes you are just to-to tough for your own good.”
Tom nodded and Jess hit him on the arm.